558 Mr. C. T. Regan on the 



laminae whicli (except in Galeichthys) extend to and unite 

 ■with the posterior rami of the parapophyses of the fourth 

 vertebra ; a pair of large thin-walled bullae formed by pro- 

 otic, pterotic, and exoccipital ; a stout subconical inferior 

 process at the junction of basioccipital and complex vertebra. 

 Palatine rod-like ; pterygoid, when present {^lurichthys) 

 very small, adherent to lower surface of posterior part of 

 palatine; mesopterygoid small, lying between the lateral 

 ethmoid and the large metapterygoid. Post-temporal 

 present; supra-cleithrum with stout lower limb united by 

 suture with basioccipital ; no mesocoracoid ; hypocoracoids 

 interlocking below. Vertebrge 48 to 58 (22-29 + 27-33) ; 

 ribs on well-developed parapophyses ; one, two, or three rib- 

 bearing vertebrae (sixth to eighth) rigidly united to fifth and 

 complex by a backward extension of investing bone over 

 their centra ; parapophysis of fifth vertebra enlarged, sutu- 

 rally united to that of the fourth, which is an expanded 

 lamina with a decurved anterior process rigidly attached to 

 the limb of supra-cleithrum. Air-bladder large, free, normal. 



Fishes of the shores and estuaries of tropical and sub- 

 tropical regions, a few species perhaps permanently fluviatile. 



Principal genera : Arius, Galeichthys, Ancharius, Genidens, 

 Hemipimelodus, Ketengus, yElurichthys, Batrachocephalus, 

 Osteoffeneiosus, 



/ 

 Family 3. DoradidaB. (Fig. 3, A.) 



Body moderately elongate. Gill-membranes broadly 

 united to the isthmus. Dorsal fin anterior, with a spine ; 

 adipose fin usually present ; anal short or rather long ; 

 pelvics 6- to 16-rayed. Mouth terminal; jaws usually 

 toothed ; maxillary and one or two pairs of mandibulary 

 barbels ; nostrils remote, without barbels. Palatine rod- like ; 

 pterygoid absent ; mesopterygoid present, connecting meta- 

 pterygoid with lateral ethmoid, A nuchal shield ; epiotics 

 prominent on the upper surface of the skull, united by suture 

 with both nuchal plates, and giving rise posteriorly to more 

 or less developed backwardly directed processes *. No 

 post-temporal ; supra-cleithrum suturally united with skull, 

 the upper limb to the pterotic and epiotic, the lower to the 

 basioccipital and exoccipital ; no mesocoracoid ; hypo- 

 coracoids interlocking below. Vertebrae 36 to 58 (13-17 + 



* These are short pointed projections in Doras and Oxydoi-as, but in 

 Hemidoras they extend backwards to the inferior processes of the poste- 

 rior nuclial plates. In the other genera the epiotic processes are forked, 

 the inner limbs running to the parapophyses of the sixth vertebra. 



